People wearing face masks to help fight the spread of coronavirus walk on a street lined with bars and restaurants in Tokyo on January 19, 2022.
Koji Sasahara / AP file photo
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Koji Sasahara / AP file photo
People wearing face masks to help fight the spread of coronavirus walk on a street lined with bars and restaurants in Tokyo on January 19, 2022.
Koji Sasahara / AP file photo
TOKYO – Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and dozens of other areas across Japan starting Friday as the country expands COVID-19 restrictions as an omicron variant causes cases to rise new highs in urban areas.
The restraint, which was placed before a state of emergency, is the first since September and is expected to last through February 13. With three other prefectures – Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi – following similar measures Since the beginning of January, the state of containment now covers 16 regions, or a third, of the country.
While many Japanese adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a few receive a booster shot, which is an important protection against the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The Department of Health on Friday approved the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5-11, who are increasingly susceptible to infection.
Throughout the pandemic, Japan has resisted the use of lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus and has focused on requiring eateries to close early and not serve alcohol, while urging the public to wear masks and practice social distancing, as the government seeks to minimize the damage to the economy.
Under the latest measure, most eateries are required to close by 8 or 9 p.m., while large events can allow full capacity if they have an anti-virus plan in place. In Tokyo, eateries that are certified to stop serving alcohol can stay open until 9 p.m. while those that serve alcohol must close an hour earlier.
Restaurants that close at 9 p.m. and do not serve alcohol are compensated by the government 30,000 yen ($263) per day, while those that close at 8 p.m. receive 25,000 yen ($220) each day.
Critics say the measures, which mostly target bars and restaurants, make little sense and are unfair.
Mitsuru Saga, manager of a Japanese-style “izakaya” restaurant in downtown Tokyo, said he chose to serve alcohol and close at 8pm despite receiving less compensation from the government. .
“We can’t be in business without serving alcohol,” Saga said in an interview with Nippon Television. “It looks like only eateries are targeted for restriction.”
After more than two years of constant restraint and social distancing requirements, the Japanese have become increasingly uncooperative with such measures. People returned to commuting on packed trains and shopping in crowded stores.
Tokyo’s Shinagawa main train station was as usual with commuters rushing to work on Friday morning.
Japan briefly eased border controls in November but quickly reversed a ban on most foreigners as the omicron variant began to spread in other countries. Japan has said it will adhere to a strict border policy through the end of February as it tries to strengthen its medical and treatment systems.
The tough border control measures have drawn criticism from foreign students and scholars, who say the measures are unscientific.
Some experts question the effectiveness of placing only restrictions on eateries, noting that infections in the three counties that have had these measures in place for nearly two weeks show no sign of slowing down. again.
Tokyo recorded 8,638 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 7,377 set the day before.
At a meeting of the Tokyo metropolitan government task force, experts sounded the alarm about a fast-paced outbreak led by omicrons.
Norio Ohmagari, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the National Center for Global Health and an adviser to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government committee, said Tokyo’s daily new cases could exceed 18,000 cases within a week if the increase continues at the current rate.
Although only a handful of people with the disease have been hospitalized, and account for less than a third of available hospital beds in the Japanese capital, experts say the rapid rise in cases could be rapid. overwhelm the health system once the infection spreads further among the elderly. populations are more likely to become seriously ill.
Infections have begun to paralyze hospitals, schools and other areas in some areas.
The Department has reduced the mandatory self-isolation period from 14 days to 10 days for close contacts of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and to seven days for essential workers if they have negative results.
While about 80% of Japanese have received the first two doses of the vaccine, rollout of booster shots has been slow and has reached only 1.4% of the population so far.
